Why Gillette Stadium’s owners are now suing the town of Foxborough

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It’s Bunker Hill Day. Check out what archaeologists are digging up in the lawn around the famous Boston battle monument.

But first, a different battle:

Another fight in Foxborough: Before any Norwegian or Iraqi players even stepped on the field yesterday, a different Foxborough showdown was kicking off in Norfolk Superior Court. Kraft Sports + Entertainment sued the town of Foxborough for allegedly extracting improper licensing fees from the Gillette Stadium owners. The legal dispute is over the annual entertainment license Gillette Stadium receives from the town to hold games and concerts — separate from the special World Cup license that had the two sides at odds over security funding this past winter. But now, those simmering tensions are boiling over again:

• The backstory: According to state law, anyone hosting a game, concert or any sort of public show where food and alcohol will be served must get an entertainment license from the local city or town. The law also limits fees for the license at $100. Typically, Gillette Stadium gets an annual license that it renews each April once the New England Patriots and New England Revolution schedules are set.
• The claim: According to the lawsuit, Foxborough officials added a $953,640 renewal charge to the license this year, which the town said would be the new going rate. The lawsuit said the town characterized the charge as a “condition of” the license, rather than a fee. The invoice the Kraft Group got included paying for part of the salaries of Foxborough’s fire chief and deputy policy chief, plus a “special operations” wing of the town police department and a “drone mitigation” program. “It strains credulity to presume that, in drafting [the state law], the Legislature intended to allow cities and towns to exceed the statutory maximum fee by $1 million simply by placing the word ‘condition’ rather than the word ‘fee’ on an invoice,” the lawsuit said.
• Foxborough’s side: In a statement posted on the town website, Foxborough officials said yesterday that security needs for Gillette Stadium events “are growing increasingly complex” and that “the conditions” of the license were “carefully crafted” to ensure the safety of event-goers, employees and residents. “Foxborough residents should not be asked to subsidize the municipal costs associated with privately operated events,” the town said, adding that the Kraft Group “has agreed to bear such costs” as part of its long-term lease of land.
• What’s next? The Kraft Group is asking a judge to declare Foxborough’s financial conditions on the license “legally inoperative and uncollectible” — or order the town to renew the license without those nearly $1 million charges. In their statement, Foxborough officials said they “will respond through the appropriate legal process and will continue to advocate for an outcome that protects the interests of the Foxborough community.”

On the field: The second World Cup game at Gillette wasn’t as much of a nail-biter as the first — but it did deliver more goals. Norway star striker Erling Haaland scored twice to lead his team to a 4-1 win over Iraq in front of legions of rowing fans at Gillette. (Haaland’s performance was close to “perfect,” unless you count his spelling of certain American cities.) Iraq’s lone goal — a soaring header — was scored by striker Aymen Hussein, just two weeks after he was detained for several hours coming through U.S. customs in Chicago.

• What went well: WBUR’s Andrea Perdomo-Hernandez reports the MBTA said it would add signage at the stadium to help better direct people to post-game trains back to Boston, following a long and sometimes chaotic departure from Foxborough on Saturday. And according to The Boston Globe, the train experience for fans going to the second game was mostly good.
• What didn’t: Perhaps the biggest mishap of the night was a halftime sprinkler malfunction on the field — ironic given the Norway coach’s complaints.

Tip-toeing toward the picket line: Registered nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital overwhelmingly voted last night to authorize a one-day strike at some point in the near future. While the vote doesn’t mean a strike is definite, it authorizes the union to call one if negotiations over a new contract continue to deadlock. The union said it would give a legally required 10-day notice before any strike is called.

•  The nurses union says the hospital is asking them to pay more for health insurance, at the same as over a dozen Mass General Brigham executives earn annual salaries of $1 million or more. The union argues the hospital’s bargaining position threatens nurse recruitment and retention.
• MGB officials countered that the hospital system has an “extremely high” retention rate, compared to national averages. But they noted that health care in general is seeing sharply rising costs. “Maintaining the current level of benefits without any change is not sustainable given escalating costs that all employee roll groups are also experiencing,” an MGB spokesperson said.

P.S.— Get to Fenway Park early if you’re headed to tonight’s Red Sox game. The team is honoring legendary composer (and lifelong Sox fan) John Williams with a special theme night, featuring a musical Williams bobblehead and a performance by the Boston Pops. The Sox say to arrive by 6:10 p.m. to see the Pops play some of Williams’ famous scores in the outfield before the 6:45 p.m. first pitch.